


inner warmth

by whippedt_cream



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Crush at First Sight, Crushes, M/M, Misunderstandings, Nurses & Nursing, Self-Indulgent, do not question my life choices, i don't actually know what i'm doing, implied ziyi/zhengting, mentions of cheating, model!Zhengting, slight jealousy, ziyi is a nurse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 14:43:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16243778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whippedt_cream/pseuds/whippedt_cream
Summary: What Xukun didn't expect when he started visiting his grandmother at the nursing home was to develop a big fat crush on male nurse Ziyi.





	inner warmth

The cold autumn wind felt sharp on Xukun's face as he was walking though the abandoned park. Instinctively, he wrapped his fingers tighter around the cup of coffee he had just bought at a small shop nearby. It was still warm even though there wasn't much left anymore, which, honestly, wasn't a surprise. Anything was warm compared to the vicious wind. Shrinking further into his coat, Xukun started walking faster.

The sky was mostly grey and cloudy, which made the park look even more gloomy. With the trees losing leaves and nobody around it was already a quite sad place to begin with. The yellow, brownish leaves were rustling under Xukun's feet. 

Soon, he left the park and wandered through the streets. At least here there were some people, walking hurriedly, trying to get inside as fast as possible, just like him. Just two weeks ago, everyone had still been enjoying the warm summer sun, going outside whenever they could, but autumn had come suddenly and now everyone who didn't necessarily have to go outside preferred hiding in their warm homes. 

After a short walk, Xukun arrived at the nursing home. Quickly, he swallowed his remaining coffee, which was almost completely cold now, and threw the empty cup in the trash can in front of the building. Once he was inside, he instantly smiled at the sudden warmth surrounding him. Considering that he had already called on the previous day to ask which floor and which room his grandmother would be on, he moved to the stairs, ignoring the elevator in favor of moving his body to get warm again. 

The building had three floors and the secretary had told him his grandmother was on the second one. Xukun moved around the barrier for wheelchair users before he made his way through the automatically opening door, to the living area of the second floor. 

The layout of the retirement home was interesting, Xukun thought. The living area was the core of every floor and there were three corridors with the bedrooms spreading from there, each one colored differently. Now, Xukun didn't know whether he should just walk straight ahead, left or right. If his grandmother had been sitting in the community area, where he spotted some people talking, reading and playing games, it would have been easier for him. 

He probably looked as confused as he felt and he was grateful that a nurse saw him standing there and approached him. "Hello! Can I help you with something?"

"Yes, I'm looking for my grandmother. Mrs. Cai. She came here yesterday and I'm not sure where her room is..." Xukun trailed off with an apologetic smile.

The woman in front of him smiled as well before she said, "If you walk straight ahead you'll find her in the third room on the left hand side."

"Thank you!" Xukun replied. The woman just nodded her head before she went back to work. Once Xukun was standing in front of the correct door, he knocked, receiving a "come in" in a familiar voice. 

Xukun's grandmother had had a surgery on her hip and now that everything was basically healed, she was transferred from the hospital to the nursing home to get physiotherapy and the necessary care considering she still couldn't actually walk on her own. She would stay here for approximately two months and Xukun felt that it would be boring for her, so he had decided to come visit her as often as possible. Fortunately, the headquarters of the fashion magazine he worked for were located within a ten minute walk from the nursing home.

"Hello, grandma", Xukun greeted the elderly woman. Seeing her sit in a wheelchair kind of broke his heart, but he knew that she'd had problems with her hip for a long time before the surgery and that she would feel much better and could be more active again soon.

She looked up from the newspaper she had been reading, smiled, and said, "Xukun! What a nice surprise! How are you?" She stopped speaking for a second to look him up and down and added, "Do you eat enough? You're so skinny!"

Xukun laughed in disbelief. His grandma was fresh out of the hospital yet she was worried about him. "Grandma, I'm fine, don't worry about me. Actually, I should be the one asking if you're fine. How do you feel?" He had taken off his coat and put it on the back of the chair next to the table before taking a seat, facing his grandmother.

"Oh, you know how it is. These bones won't get any younger, but I can't change that. I'm just glad I can leave this wheelchair behind soon."

"Well, I'm happy to hear about that, too." His grandma's positive attitude was great, Xukun thought. She had always been like this. A lot of people in a situation similar to hers would probably be busy pittying themselves and sulking. But really, if you're in a bad place there's often not much more you can do other than hoping for a better future and working hard to reach your goals, to reach happiness.

"So", Xukun started, gesturing towards the newspaper his grandma had been reading until he had come inside, "are there any good news today?"

The two of them spoke for a while, talking about whether everything was fine at the retirement home until now, Xunkun's recent projects at work and some other things, which were mostly random topics. Xukun was glad that he had such a good relationship with his grandma, with all of his grandparents in general. He was aware that most young people either had no interest in having much contact with their grandparents or that there were just too many differences between them that made having a conversation hard or boring. 

Sure, his grandma was an elderly woman, but her mind had stayed young, she was always open to hear about new things, to learn what the younger generation was up to nowadays. She was a very open-minded, warm-hearted woman who easily found friends wherever she went and Xukun was sure nobody had ever said a bad word about her. Her kindness was truly inspiring.

After a while, there was a knock on the door. "Yes, come in", Xukun's grandmother called. In came a male caregiver, dressed in a white uniform just like the other nurse Xukun had seen before. The first thing Xukun noticed was that he was tall, undoubtedly even taller than Xukun and he was already pretty damn tall if he could say so himself. With his height and body type that man could easily be one of the models who were photographed for the fashion magazine Xukun worked for. 

When he saw his face Xukun's thoughts about the man looking like a model intensified. His face was defined clearly, bone structure rather prominent. However, his eyes were soft, they reminded Xukun of a teddy bear, and he kind of looked like he had something in his mouth, which gave his face an interesting touch. His hair, deep black in color, short on the sides and long in the middle, was tied in a ponytail. He looked at Xukun intensely, but maybe Xukun had simply imagined it because the moment was over just as fast as that thought had come to his mind.

This man was so attractive it could almost be considered unfair. And when he spoke his voice was so smooth and calm, it kind of made Xukun melt internally. Oh, right, he was speaking, Xukun realised. "Mrs. Cai, you have an appointment scheduled with the physiotherapist now. Are you ready?"

Xukun's grandma looked surprised, "Oh, I completely lost track of time! I'm ready, I'll just say goodbye to my grandson real quick!" The caretaker didn't seem to have a problem with that, nodding and then waiting patiently as Xukun bent down to hug his grandmother and wished her a nice evening. 

While Xukun was putting on his coat, he watched the attractive caretaker push his grandmother's wheelchair out of the room, the two of them making casual conversation during the process. On his way out Xukun thought about how he usually never saw people this good-looking during his everyday life, with the exception of all the models he worked with - but they didn't count - and then he walked into a nursing home and was slapped in the face with this sort of beauty. He felt scammed.

 

Xukun's week had been quite busy. He worked in the creative department, dealing with the layout and concept of the magazine, but sometimes also doing the job of a stylist and decorating the set they were shooting on if help was needed. He was interested in various tasks that required creativity so he was happy that he could contribute in more than one aspect and that his position gave him a variety of opportunities. 

Today they had a photoshooting with an incredibly well-known male model. Zhu Zhengting's face was plastered on a number of various advertisments, be it in magazines or on posters, but seeing him in person, Xukun could say that no photo could do the real thing justice. His face was sharp, yet soft, perfect for masculine, feminine and androgynous looks. Xukun could understand why so many brands wanted him to model for them.

Obviously, just a pretty face alone wouldn't get you very far. You needed the necessary skills, a professional work ethic and also an easy-going personality since nobody behind the scenes liked to work with bitchy models. And that's exactly what Zhengting had. He was a joy to be around, making friendly conversation with the people on set, easily laughing along with their jokes, everybody working efficiently despite the banter.

Meanwhile, Xukun was busy arranging the flowers on the set. The theme was a contrast between the soft aesthetic of flowers and modern, edgy fashion. Personally, Xukun really liked this kind of style.

As he was done organizing the flowers he wanted to make his way over to the elevators since he needed to fetch something from his office. However, his foot got caught on one of the cables from all the lights in the studio and he was mentally cursing his own clumsy ass as he stumbled. Before he could find his balance again, or actually fall on his face to be honest, someone caught him to keep him upright. 

"Everything okay?"

Xukun looked at his saviour and, oh, it was Zhu Zhengting. Just his luck. He awkwardly cleared his throat but before he could reply to Zhengting's question, which had seemed to be rhetoric anyway, the other man added, "Wow, why did they hire me if they could have just let you pose instead?"

On the list of things Xukun expected to hear from the other man, this definitely wasn't one of them. Xukun didn't really know how to reply, but that decision was taken from him anyway since he didn't exactly have a brain to mouth filter in awkward situations. "I work here" was the smartest reply he could come up with.

At that, Zhengting smiled. He took Xukun's ID which was hanging around his neck in his hand and said, "Well, it's nice to meet you, Cai Xukun." Once he had released the card, he added, "You did a nice job with the flowers."

Fortunately, Xukun seemed to regain control over his brain again. "Thanks. For the compliments and for not letting me fall on my face."

Zhengting laughed. "You don't have to thank me for that. You should probably pay more attention where you're walking, though. Anyway, I'll let you go back to work now."

Xukun let out an awkward laugh and scratched the back of his neck, saying, "I'll try my best." Then, Xukun waved the other goodbye as he went back to his office for a while.

The shooting went by smoothly, leaving everyone satisfied with their work. Xukun had come back to watch how it was going after finishing up some things he had been working on. As everyone was busy putting away the decorations, styling products and camera equipment, someone entered the room. At first, Xukun didn't pay attention, but then he heard the couple stylists in the room giggle and whisper about something.

Xukun looked up and couldn't believe his eyes. Standing there was the handsome man from the nursing home and he was currently busy giving Zhu Zhengting a hug and whispering something in the man's ear which obviously made him laugh. 

Now Xukun could make out the words of the gossiping women.

"Who is that?"

"I don't know. But he sure is handsome."

"Don't you think these two look very friendly with each other?"

"Maybe they're a couple?"

"Oh my God, I think you could be right!"

Xukun rolled his eyes internally. The job was over and any sense of professionalism flew out of the window. For a second he wondered if they had also spoken about him when he almost tripped over one of the cables but then again, he didn't really care all that much what people said about him. He decided not to participate in their conversation, however, he could not help but wonder what those two men were to each other as they left, arms brushing against each other, speaking comfortably.

 

On the next day, Xukun found himself walking to the nursing home to visit his grandma again. It was actually a pretty sunny, warm afternoon, to his surprise. On his way to the building he stopped by a florist's to buy some flowers for his grandmother. He was sure she would like the surprise. 

Xukun ended up getting a bouquet of colorful flowers, decorated with some greens, appreciating the nice smell as he stepped out of the shop. The scent wasn't overwhelming, it was nice and subtle. Xukun kind of dragged out the short walk as much as possible, walking way slower than usually, just to enjoy the feeling of the sun shining on his face.

Once he arrived at the nursing home, he jogged up the stairs, feeling excited because of the nice weather. When he greeted his grandmother, she enthusiastically exclaimed, "Oh, are these for me?", gesturing towards the flowers. 

"Yes, I know you love these kinds of flowers." Xukun answered. 

"Thanks, that's so nice! Could you put them in a vase for me? There should be one in the cabinet beneath the bathroom sink."

Xukun got the vase, filled it with water and brought it to where his grandma was waiting for him. It was a nice decoration for the room since there weren't many personal things his grandma had brought with her, which was just natural considering that she wouldn't stay that long. 

"Why aren't you outside with the others? Isn't it boring in here?"

"Oh, well, I'm not with them because it's time for coffee and cake! You know how I am, I prefer to eat in peace."

Xukun nodded. Right at that moment there was a knock on the door and honestly, Xukun could have guessed who would bring the food. Mister Tall and Handsome came in, smiling (cutely) at Mrs. Cai and her grandson while he greeted them both as he put a plate with a piece of chocolate cake and a cup of coffee on the table. 

As he left the room, Xukun's eyes followed him, involuntarily checking the man out. When he was out of the room, he looked back at his grandma who was looking at him knowingly. "He's pretty attractive, right?" she said before she picked up her coffee and took a sip, looking over the edge of the cup in order to observe Xukun's reaction.

Well, Xukun thought as his face was probably turning a pretty shade of pink, next time he should probably check the other man out more subtly. However, it didn't really matter anymore, his grandmother had seen right through him, so he answered truthfully, "Absolutely."

"So, when are you going to ask him out?"

Xukun kind of choked on the air he was breathing and his grandma had the audacity to giggle. "You know, he's a real sweetheart. Well, at least at work, I don't know about his private life, but I don't think he just pretends to be so nice..." she continued.

Once her grandson had regained his composure, he said, "I'm not sure if I'll ask him out. He seems nice and looks great, but I don't know him, I didn't even speak to him yet."

His grandmother thought about his words for a couple seconds. "You could try to start a conversation with him, you know."

Xukun didn't know which excuse he should find to speak to a nurse who he basically had nothing to do with. "What should I talk to him about?"

"About the weather?" His grandma shrugged. "Don't be so shy!"

Nodding, Xukun decided to change the topic by telling her about his day and what his parents were up to. After a while, he said goodbye to his grandma. The sun would start to set soon and he wasn't really into the thought of walking home in the dark. It just creeped him out and he'd rather not do that.

Before he even reached the main living area though, something caught his eye. There was a collection of photos with names written under them on the wall. He realized that these were all people who worked here, nurses and doctors. 

Subconsciously, he started looking for a familiar face he didn't yet know the name to. Before he heard a voice, he felt a presence behind him. "Looking for someone in particular? Maybe I can help you."

Xukun turned around feeling like he had been caught doing something forbidden. He could feel himself blush again because he was so close to the attractive caregiver who had been occupying his thoughts recently. "Should I be looking for someone specific?" he asked, pretending to be nonchalant.

The man in front of him shrugged and Xukun noticed that a strand of hair had escaped the ponytail and was now falling into the other's eyes. Xukun found it kind of cute. "Who knows? Let's say you were looking for me, for example, maybe I'd like that."

"Okay", Xukun started, "But let's say I didn't find you. Then I could ask you personally for things like your name and how you like your eggs in the morning." Honestly, Xukun was dying internally.

With a bright smile, the handsome man introduced himself, "I'm Ziyi. What about you?"

After Xukun had told Ziyi his name, the man moved closer and put his hand on the wall behind Xukun in kabedon style. Xukun looked at him confusedly, but the man's gaze wasn't even directed at his face anymore, he was looking at something behind Xukun, so he turned around to see what it was. 

Ziyi was actually pointing to his own photo on the wall, one Xukun hadn't seen at first. It was a simple picture of Ziyi smiling into the camera, the only real difference Xukun spotted was that his hair was undone. The characters under the picture said 'Wang Ziyi'.

That's when Xukun turned around again, almost colliding with Ziyi since he was standing so close to the other. Fortunately, he took a step back, otherwise Xukun might have gotten a heart attack. 

"Well, I have to go back to working now. I'll see you around!" Ziyi said suddenly. "Also, I like my eggs fried." he added with a wink before he left Xukun standing there, confused and with a big fat crush.

 

About a week later, Xukun found himself standing in line at his favourite coffee shop. It was a small café, a place you wouldn't necessarily go to if you don't know about it. The atmosphere in the shop was warm and comfortable, however, at this time of the day, not many people went there. 

It was lunch time, Xukun was on break and since he could feel an on-coming headache, he had decided to get some coffee before buying something to eat. Hopefully the caffeine would stop the headache before it could get worse. He still had a lot of work to finish.

After he had received his coffee, he thanked the barista and turned around to leave when something, or rather someone, caught his attention. There, on one of the red sofas, was Wang Ziyi and when he saw who his companion was, Xukun thought his eyes were about to fall out of his head. Zhu Zhengting was sitting there, right next to Ziyi, the two seemingly absorbed in their conversation. 

Honestly, Xukun thought it was sort of a miracle that nobody had recognized Zhengting and started taking pictures yet, but there weren't many people around at this time of the day and those who were here only seemed interested in consuming some much-needed coffee. 

Just as Xukun was thinking that he must be staring at the two men creepily, Zhengting leaned over to hug Ziyi and kiss him on the cheek. Xukun would have felt weird watching them any longer so he turned around and left as quickly as possible, head suddenly hurting more.

 

On his next free week day, Xukun went to visit his grandmother. She had already spent some weeks at the nursing home and had told him about her progress during a phone call, so Xukun was excited to meet her.

When he arrived though, his grandmother's room was empty, so he went to check in the community area. There were some people playing a game on one table, laughing and making conversation. Xukun didn't see his grandma there either, so he pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the time. She was probably with the physiotherapist, so Xukun decided to go out on the balcony to get some fresh air while he waited.

Xukun leaned on the balcony and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath of the crisp autumn air, before just looking at the garden beneath him. Today it was neither too windy nor that cloudy, meaning that the weather was actually rather good for once. When Xukun suddenly heard a noise behind him, he got startled and turned around to see what had caused it.

Ziyi was sitting there, on one of the silver chairs surrounding the small table on the balcony. What Xukun had heard was his coffee cup being set down. Ziyi smiled at Xukun as he got up and went towards the man who was currently still recovering from his shock.

Instead of a greeting, Ziyi said, "You seemed pretty lost in your thoughts." His hair wasn't pulled back or braided in a ponytail, it was hanging into his face, making him look softer. 

"Yeah? I was just enjoying the view." Xukun said.

Ziyi looked into Xukun's eyes and said, "So was I." That kind of caught Xukun off guard for a second. Had Ziyi been checking him out while he had been sitting there? He admitted that he found the other extremely cute and attractive, however, he was confused about one thing.

"Won't your boyfriend get mad if you flirt with someone else?" Xukun didn't exactly plan on saying that, but now it was too late so he just went with it. He didn't want to participate in anything that could count as cheating.

At that, Ziyi looked confused, maybe also a little taken aback. "My boyfriend?"

Xukun frowned, getting confused himself. Had he read the relationship between Ziyi and Zhengting wrong? He had been so sure that they were an item judging from their behaviour both times he had seen them together.

"Uhm..." Smart, Xukun, real smart. Get it together, he thought to himself. "Isn't Zhengting your boyfriend?"

"Zhengting" Ziyi deadpanned, "Is definitely not my boyfriend. He's my best friend."

Where was the open-up-the-ground-and-just-disappear option when you needed it most? "But... You two seem very close, even for best friends."

Suddenly, Ziyi seemed to realize something. "You mean after the photoshooting and at the coffeeshop?" Wow, Xukun hadn't even realized that Ziyi had noticed him both times. "I actually told Zhengting about this really cute guy who visits his grandma at the nursing home and well, she did hint that you might have a little crush on me, so he thought by making you jealous he would speed this whole asking each other out process up. It doesn't make much sense to me either, that's just his logic, but I can assure you that I'm as single as possible."

After Xukun had taken all that information in, he said, "Wow, that's totally not what I expected. How awkward." 

"Well, I get where you're coming from. Also, I prefer to get rid of any confusion in advance, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"That's considerate, however, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions, that's not exactly gentleman-like."

Ziyi laughed, "That's okay." There was some wind now which was messing up Xukun's hair, so Ziyi reached out in order to brush some wild strands out of his face. Xukun gulped, having noticed that Ziyi had moved closer and that he was now standing with his back to the balcony railing.

"Actually" Xukun started, "I'm kind of scared of heights." Then, Ziyi wrapped his arms around Xukun and made the two turn around so that Xukun wasn't standing like that anymore, Ziyi taking his previous position. "Better?"

"So much better" the slightly shorter man replied, subconsciously cuddling into Ziyi's hug and breathing in the scent of his aftershave. Xukun noticed that Ziyi was just wearing his short sleeved shirt without a jacket, so he added, "Aren't you cold?"

Ziyi nodded, confirming Xukun's suspision, so Xukun pulled his coat open, saying, "Put your arms inside so that you won't freeze to death." Grinning, Ziyi did just that, hugging Xukun again, arms feeling so much warmer this time. 

"How can I thank you for warming me?" Ziyi asked teasingly.

Xukun pretended to think about the question for a moment. "Would a kiss be too much to ask for?"

Ziyi smiled and said, "In fact, that's what I hoped you'd say." The two men leaned in to each other, lips meeting in a sweet kiss, eyes closing and wrapping each other's arms around each other even more tightly, momentarily forgetting where they were.

Looking outside of the window after she had walked over to her new friends who were playing a game, using crutches to support her weight - a huge improvement to her previous condition - Xukun's grandmother saw the two figures on the balcony, immediately recognizing them. The sight warmed her heart so much she was convinced this day couldn't get any better.


End file.
